Latest Articles

Don't eat your broccoli: Junk food industry determined to target kids

Government agencies are set to release voluntary suggestions for how Big Food could less slimy in its advertising. The industry is pushing back.

High steaks: Meat eaters' climate impact

The Environmental Working Group released the Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change + Health, and it contains surprises for climate-conscious eaters.

Secondhand style: No hoochie dresses, please

Grist dared me to wear nothing but thrift store clothes for a week. Dresses? No problem. Shoes -- well, that's another story.

Bill McKibben avoids the fetal position

Bill McKibben's new Global Warming Reader brings together a range of writing on climate change.

Plastic purge: The good, the bad, and the ugly

The plastic purge is over, and here's what I've learned: Avoiding plastic makes you lose weight.

Elevate your ice cream

How healthy is your ice cream? Find out with this sweet flowchart.

In the future, cleaning robots will sniff out air pollution

Researchers at the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science have kitted out a Roomba -- you know, one of those robotic vacuum cleaners that cats ride around on and act out Citizen Kane -- to evaluate air quality. Lights on the Roomba indicate the presence of evaporated alcohol, and a long-exposure photo, above, can show which parts of a room are clean and which are fumey. Blue lights in the above photo mean that the robot detected polluted air.

Organic farming is not really better for you or the planet [UPDATE: Or is it?]

Science writer Christie Wilcox lays out the top myths about organic farming in Scientific American, and they might surprise you:

Half of all geothermal energy is left over from birth of solar system, say scientists

Well, hello there, enormous quantities of heat that's just beneath our feet and could potentially be tapped to provide enormous amounts of base-load electricity! Where'd YOU come from? The birth of the planet, you say? No sh*t!

Using this gigantic underground, water-filled neutrino detector, scientists have finally gotten a better idea of exactly where the Earth's heat comes from:

Republicans: We must protect children from energy efficiency

Republican Rep. Sandy Adams wants to limit funding for Department of Energy websites that educate kids about efficiency. She doesn't know how much money that will save, but by god, we must stop children learning at any cost!